


Nightmares

by silentwhisper002



Series: Carl and Stove (Fight me I love them) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Carl and Stove, Carol Has Nightmares, Cats Because It's Me, Co-Captains - Freeform, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff So Tooth-Rotting Even The Dentist Can't Save You, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fuck Canon I Decide What's Real In This House, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I wrote this instead of homework, Nightmares, Sleep, The Fluff You Never Knew You Needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentwhisper002/pseuds/silentwhisper002
Summary: Even Superheroes have bad dreams sometimes
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Steve Rogers
Series: Carl and Stove (Fight me I love them) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616989
Kudos: 25





	Nightmares

After the whole fiasco of SHIELD being Hydra, and the concerning amount of otherworldly threats that had occured in the last ten years, it was no surprise that Steve was a light sleeper. Even the slightest of unusual noises would have him up and reaching for his shield in moments; much like tonight. 

It was a light muttering sound that had awoken him this time. 

Steve’s eyes slowly blinked open, his blurry, sleep-filled vision doing it’s best to focus in on the alarm clock beside his bed. 

_3:30._ Much too early for anyone to be up at this hour, save for Peter, but Steve had dragged the younger boy to bed himself after he’d fallen asleep on the couch due to a late-night patrol.

Slowly climbing out of bed—taking great care not to wake the sleeping captain beside him—he picked up his shield and ventured out into the hall. 

The corridor was almost pitch black except for the small patches of wintery moonlight coming through the various windows. 

He tried to stay as silent as possible, partially to not wake the other residents, and partially because if there was someone here, he’d rather not give himself away. 

However, he began to notice that the farther he went, the noises began to still. 

Turning around, he made his way back towards his room, only to find that the noise had stopped. 

Shifting in a circle, scoping the hallway for danger one last time, Steve shook his head and came to the conclusion that he must just be hearing things, or one of the cats had decided to demand a sacrifice at 3am. 

Sighing a bit in exasperation, he re-entered the safety of his own quarters and climbed back into bed, relieved to see Carol untouched and sleeping soundly. 

Nodding his head in satisfaction, he closed his eyes and let himself drift off once more. 

* * *

It was around 4:15 in the morning when Steve was jolted out of his sleep once again by the same noise. This time he was sure he wasn’t just hearing things. Sitting up against the headboard, he listened closely for any tell-tale signs of movement outside, only to realize that the sound seemed to be coming from _inside_ the room. 

Glancing around in a panic, he tried to figure out where the hell it could be coming from until his eyes landed on the bed’s other occupant. 

_Oh…_

Carol’s small form was trembling underneath the blankets, and she retreated into a curled up ball, muttering inaudible words to herself. 

Although he couldn’t make out what she was saying, the smaller captain sounded scared. _Terrified_ was a better word for it.

He should have known. 

They were no strangers to frightening visitors in the dark.

They’d both had their portion of waking up in the middle of the night, screams caught in their throat, kicking and thrashing to break free from invisible restraints. 

Countless times had he woken up, gasping for air after crashing down into the ice, reliving the same moment night after night until it became too much to sleep. 

Reaching out for her shaking silhouette, Steve drew her in closer in attempt to quell the tempest inside her mind. Yet Carol’s cries only grew louder as the shivering became worse. He stroked her honey blond hair, whispering soothing words into her ear while silently praying that she would wake from her trace. 

Carol began clawing at the air as if she were trying to break free of something, muttering nonsense about music and a leather jacket. Steve grabbed her hands, trying to still her movements in hope that it might do the trick. Nonetheless, her struggling continued, growing harsher until finally, she shot up, almost knocking him over in the process. 

Her normally nonchalant brown eyes darted wildly around the room, wide with terror and her face had contorted into a furious snarl. 

“Carol, Carol it’s okay! You’re okay!”

Carol’s frightened gaze finally settled on him, and her labored breathing began to even out when she realised where she was. 

“...Steve?”

“Hey, hey. Yeah, it’s just me.” He soothed, cupping her face with his hands, “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

And then came the tears. 

Carol buried her face in his shirt, letting go of all the horrible illusions she’d encountered in her sleep. 

He gently rocked her back and forth, letting her be, as her mind worked to process what was real and what wasn’t. 

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

Carol shook her head, the sobs finally ceasing. “It’s too much.”

“Well you know I’d never let anything hurt you right?”

She nodded against his shoulder, her shuddered breaths finally returning to normal.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep then?”

“No...I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for the next three months after….that.” she pulled away and looked at him with guilt in her eyes, “I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

Carols shrugged, leaving the two in a tense silence unitil Steve finally got an idea. 

“Hey Carol…” he started, knowing the one thing that might make her feel better

“What?” She responded in a tiny voice.

“4am Cookie Club?”

A small smile worked its way onto her face. “Only if there’s cats.”

“Of course, what’s a cookie club without cats?”

Slipping from the soft mattress, he pulled the other captain steadily to her feet. 

“Come on, but try not to wake anyone up.”

The two Avengers crept into the dark hallway, giggling like children as they kept shushing each other. Carol was finding it hard to stifle her laughter, especially when Steve tripped over a cat causing him to almost fall on his face. Thankfully they were able to carry on unscathed until they reached the cabinet where Bucky stored the cookies.

Sure, plenty of people had bad dreams, even superheroes, but they always had each other to make it better.

  
  
  



End file.
